


Anxiety + Lab + Radio

by EWM



Series: Comfortember (myfirstone!!) [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Good Friend Wilt Bozer (MacGyver TV 2016), James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Being an Asshole, James MacGyver's A + parenting, Poor Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Wilt Bozer & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27443152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EWM/pseuds/EWM
Summary: Written with the Day 4 Comfortember prompt in mind - Anxiety (not remotely in the right order I know). A kindly teacher helps a young Mac get over an anxiety attack.“A feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.”
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Wilt Bozer & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Comfortember (myfirstone!!) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996306
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Anxiety + Lab + Radio

The first time Mac had an anxiety attack when he was a kid he did what he always did when he found or felt something he didn’t understand or know about, he looked it up in the dictionary. Most kids went to their parents or their siblings when they were confused or upset, but Mac had learnt early that his father wasn’t the best at explaining things that weren’t science to him and Boze, well he was too embarrassed to really say anything to Boze. Of course Bozer knew something was wrong because the first time Mac had an attack, it happened in a very inconvenient place…up a tree. The two of them had been exploring the back of Mac’s house, MacGyver’s father had been as absent as he always was and the two boys were climbing a huge rotting oak, that was went it all went a bit wrong. Mac’s heart began hammering, he started to sweat and worst of all his hands start to shake. A horrible feeling overcame Mac as he looked at the ground that was now horribly far away. He felt his body somehow going beyond his down control which of course made the sensation all the worse. Thankfully Boze had caught his arms so Mac didn’t fall and break his neck.

It had taken forever to get to the ground because Bozer was permanently holding Mac as they went down, and Mac seemed to be constantly slipping as they moved. But eventually they made it, Mac sat there breathing hard and Bozer sat with him. Boze chatted to him for a while, not really about anything important, homework, food movies, the next time Mac was coming over and eventually Mac’s breathing slowed to normal and they were able to walk back to Mac’s house. But then Bozer had to say goodbye and the horrible feeling returned. Mac didn’t say anything because it felt like the feeling was in a different place. He felt sick to his stomach and he didn’t really know why. Boze waved at him as they parted and Mac walked into the house. His father was there waiting, his arms crossed and a unpleasant shade of purple. He screamed at Mac, he was annoyed, Mac was late, he had been worried sick! Mac shouldn’t be so irresponsible!! Mac stared at the floor biting his lip still with that horrible feeling in his stomach. Finally, his father stopped screaming and put his arms around Mac

_“I don’t mean to yell, but you need to be more careful Mac. I was worried about you, I want to keep you safe.”_

Mac nodded furiously; the feeling didn’t go. He so desperately wanted to make his father happy, he was there so little these days that he wanted all the time they had together to be fun and nice. When Mac went to bed the feeling remained, he turned and tossed in his bed for much of the night, still confused at what it even was. When he went to school the next day, it was still there like a horrible rotten egg in his stomach. Boze tried to distract him with chatter and arguing, but nothing seemed to work. Mac just nodded or twitched or jumped and Bozer after a few hours just gave up. Even an attack from the local bully – Donnie failed to raise Mac from his tangled-up distraction. They got to the last lesson of the day; science – Mac’s favourite. Boze sighed, this wasn’t going to be as much fun as usual. But to his amazement Mac seemed to calm, they were trying to make circuits work that day and Mac as always was fascinated, he pulled all the wiring apart and put it back together again. Boze was amazed at the change, but he just went with it. Being friends with Mac always came with a bit of weird.

When the teacher came up to them, it was like something flipped in Mac. He was another adult, another grownup he didn’t want to upset. He like Mr Erikson and he wanted to please him just like his father, but he couldn’t shake this horrible feeling; the pounding in his chest and the sick feeling and the shaking hands all came back. Now Mr Erikson, he was a kindly soul, he liked all his students, even those who weren’t very good at science, but he had a special place in his heart for Mac. As he came up to Mac he picked up on the shift in his stance and retreated. Instead what he did was call Mac after class. Mac panicked once again, the sick feeling in his stomach became a burning in his sensation, he stared at his feet and pray that Mr Erikson wouldn’t yell at him.

_“Now Mac, what did I see today in glass when I came up to talk to you?”_

Mac said nothing. Mr Erikson paused, he saw the boy starting to quiver

_“Mac…please don’t be frightened. You’re not in trouble. I’ve asked you here…because I’m worried about you. You seem sad and I know you’ve had a hard time lately. I saw your reaction in class and I’m worried about you.”_

_“You don’t need to worry about me.”_ Mac whispered quietly, not taking his eyes from the floor.

_“Mmh Mac I know I don’t need to worry about you. But I do. Do you want to tell me what happened?”_

Something in Mac’s child brain snapped, Mr Erikson’s soft tones, his kindness, it all came sprawling out. The tree, the fear, the horrible feelings, the painfulness, his heart racing, he spoke so quickly that he was slightly breathless by the end

 _“So what’s wrong with me?”_ he pleaded with his teacher

_“Oh Mac…nothing’s wrong with you. It sounds to me like you had what’s called an anxiety attack, they happen to everyone.”_

_“What’s anxiety?”_

_“Well Mac...it’s a feeling, it’s a feeling that’s kind of like fear or stress, everybody gets them…”_ Erikson realised Mac looked a little confused. The teacher paused and pulled a dictionary out of his draw and handed it to Mac

_“Mac why don’t you look it up in the dictionary, I realise it’s a new word, maybe reading it’s definition would help. It’s spelt a n x i e t y”_

Mac eagerly looked it up, he wanted an explanation for all the horribleness

 _“_ _A feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.”_ He read

Mr Erikson went onto explain that sometimes these feelings could be really bad and horrible and were very scary. And sometimes people had ‘anxiety attacks’ where these feelings became overwhelming. But they were also perfectly natural, sometimes the world was very complicated and hard to cope with. Everyone got these feelings, even adults and everyone had to find out ways of coping with anxiety.

 _“How should I cope with it?”_ Mac asked immediately

_“Well, it depends, I think the best way is to try and find a place where you can push those feelings away. For me it’s my garden, I like growing things and I just like sitting in and I always feel better about the world when I’m there.”_

_“I don’t have a garden at least not where we grow these things, not since…my mom. I mean she grew stuff…but.”_ Mac started to choke

Mr Erikson hugged Mac

_“Easy Mac…I know, it’s fine. Let’s think of something else. You don’t seem like the gardening type. To me you like building stuff, right?”_

Mac nodded furiously

_“Maybe you need a place to build stuff. Do you have a tree house at your home Mac?...no okay mmmmh…I have an idea… don’t look so worried. You and Bozer meet me after school here tomorrow okay.”_

Mac again nodded, feeling a bit happier. He didn’t really know what to think, but Mr Erikson had made him feel a lot better. The next day and Mac and Bozer dutifully appeared at Mr Erikson’s desk at the end of the day. Mr Erikson grinned at them and gestured for them to follow. He led them out of the science labs to the land behind the school, a forested area that they sometimes went to for projects and art lessons to draw leaves. But Mr Erikson led them on a different path that day, through the undergrowth and the wood. He came to clearing after a few minutes and on the edge of the clearing stood a huge tree with a set of wooden steps leading up to a large….treehouse.

Boze and Mac looked at each other shocked and gleeful. They couldn’t believe their luck! They looked at Mr Erikson and he gestured for them to go up. They raced up the stairs and climbed up, Mac and his worries about trees forgotten. The treehouse was dusty, filled with magazines and books, there was a carpet in there that smelled of mildew, but it was solid. There was an old radio that was 20 years out of date place in a corner. Their teacher joined them a few minutes later

_“What do you think boys??”_

Mac and Boze fell over themselves, interrupting each other, it was amazing, huge, why them? Could they keep it? How did it get here? All the questions came out at once. Erikson held up his hand, the boys were quiet instantly

_“This treehouse was built by me and my friends when were a little older than you. It was our escape from school and the world and given Mac’s little anxiety attack, I thought it best to gift it to you. To both of you. I was very happy here with my friends. I hope you’ll enjoy it too. I thought Mac you could build things, this could be your ‘garden’. Anytime you feel one of those attacks coming on, you can come here and Bozer too if you ever feel the need.”_

Boze and Mac leapt into Erikson’s arms, thanking him for it. The teacher grinned

_“But for now…you should both be getting back…I know….I know both your parents will be worried. But tomorrow at lunch, it’s all yours.”_

Mac and Boze screeched with glee, even as Erikson made them climb back down. As they walked back to the school, the chatter between the two boys was constant, what they were going to do there, what they could make, Mac couldn’t wait to get his telescope up there. Boze was dreaming big with a movie projector. Mr Erikson’s heart was warmed. Although he was perhaps a little sad to see his childhood haunt go, he knew he’d done the right thing giving it to Mac and his friend. Mac had had a hard life, to lose his mom so young and his father, well the less said about James MacGyver the better. Mac was smiling from ear to ear as he walked towards the front gates with Bozer, he loved the treehouse, it was perfect, he couldn’t believe that Mr Erikson had been so nice to him and Bozer. It was amazing, Bozer interrupted his thoughts talking about a name. After all if the treehouse was going to be there special hiding spot, it should have a cool name right??

_“What about…the lab???”_

Boze groaned, but then laughed

_“Like Frankenstein, in the movie?”_

_“Yeah sure, I mean aren’t we going to make awesome stuff there?”_

_“Frankenstein’s monster wasn’t awesome, he was a creep”_

_“You know what I mean dude”_

_“Okay okay…the Lab it is!”_

The following day the two boys returned to the treehouse. Mac had somehow managed to cram his microscope into his backpack (away from the prying eyes of his father) and Boze had borrowed/stole the movie projector from his house. When they got there, there was was a little bit of arguing about where to put everything, but the boys were happy. By the end of the lunch break, Boze had set up the projector and Mac had taken apart the old radio in the corner and was looking at bits of it under the microscope and of course they were both late for their next class, but neither of them cared.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I should add I've never had an anxiety attack, I don't know what they're like. This was sort of how I pictured it in my head and how Mac's anxiety is tangled up with a lot of other emotions as I see this happening a few years after his mother's death, but just before dear old dad legs it (can you tell how much I hate James MacGyver?)


End file.
